India, Oct. 9 -- Zoho Corp. is emerging as the flag-bearer of India's growing self-reliance drive in technology, nearly three decades after it was founded in Chennai.

Its business management apps, email and messaging platforms, and workplace tools are gaining traction among policymakers and the common man alike, underscoring the "Swadeshi" wave in the world's most populous nation.

Zoho's story is different from India's $280-billion IT services industry, for it focuses on building software in-house, in India for the world, and not serving as a backoffice for clients stateside. It's a profitable "startup", if we can call it that, a rarity among upstarts headquartered in Bengaluru.

Founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas, Zoho st...